The Hits Keep Coming
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Spoilers for "Second Star To The Right". The losses have been piling up, and the latest one hits Emma hard. Her family tries to comfort her.


**I don't own Once Upon A Time and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

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Aware his daughter was in shock, David wanted to do whatever he could to comfort Emma. He hated seeing her so upset and wanted to make everything alright for her, but wasn't sure how. There was no right way to fix it, except maybe killing those responsible for Neal's death. And fuck, now that he thought about it, Rumpelstiltskin was going to murder a few more people because of this.

Emma choked back the sobs threatening to escape because she didn't want to cry. She wanted to stay angry because that would help. Why hadn't anybody listened to her sooner about Tamara? They could have prevented this. And she had been trying so hard not to think about August's death because it hurt so fucking much – He was her best friend, after all – but all her buried grief was bubbling to the surface now. Her rage over Regina killing Graham – something she had realized after the cruse broke – was returning in full force. Why couldn't they get a break for once? Why did everything keep getting fucked up? "I want to find them as soon as possible," she murmured.

David kissed the side of her head again and pulled her closer. "I know you want to, but why don't you take a nap or something? You look like you need the rest."

She shook her head. "I'm not tired. I'm pissed. Magic fucking ruins everything! Regina killed Graham. August was murdered by Tamara and turned back into a fucking little kid. And now Neal's dead because he got sucked into a magic bean portal. How is any of that fair? Why does this keep happening?"

His heart broke for her. "Oh, Emma. It's not just magic – Life isn't fair at all, you know that. And it's true that magic make things worse, but you're not alone. You're with your mother and me and your son now. At least you're not alone. That was probably a little insensitive. Sorry about that. We love you, sweetheart. We're not going anywhere."

Emma did feel a little better, but she couldn't stop the sobs this time. She put her head in her hands and wept. David started to rub her back as Snow and Regina watched from the kitchen. When she finally couldn't take it anymore, Snow rushed to her husband and daughter's sides. "Oh, baby. I'm so sorry this is happening. You want me to get anything for you? I can."

Regina rolled her eyes. "As touching as this is, I would like to get back home so I don't have to interrupt this cheese fest."

David glared at her for interrupting them. "You're not safe there, so you might as well stay here. Your house is the first place they'll look."

"Damn it." Regina did not want to be stuck in this extremely small space, but he was right. She wasn't safe at her place at all which meant she had to put up with this for a long period of time. She finally just shrugged before deciding to find something on TV to watch.

"I miss August so much. Couldn't have the Blue Fairy had turned him back into his adult, not-wooden self? Now he's a little kid and I don't know how to handle this, especially when he doesn't remember me. It's not fair at all that he has to relive his life all over again." Emma's breath hitched as the sobs ratcheted up.

"Why didn't you tell us before how upset you were?" Snow realized how stupid that question was after the words came out of her mouth. She knew why Emma didn't say anything – She preferred to deal with things on her own, as she had always done, and hated opening up. With Neal's death, Snow wasn't surprised that this was the last straw and Emma had finally fallen apart. She hated seeing her daughter this upset, however.

"Because I was dealing with it just fine." Okay, maybe that was a lie, but Emma had been awesome at hiding her pain until now. Neal was the father of her child, her first love – She loved him, but she wasn't in love with him anymore. He was just a really great friend that had knocked her up and now she had lost someone else special to her. How was Henry going to deal with this? He hadn't known Neal for that long, but he had clearly adored him.

"Baby, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you weren't. I could tell something was wrong for a few weeks now but I was hoping you'd come to me or your father." Snow had finally had enough and nudged David away. He reluctantly listened and let Snow comfort their daughter.

Emma laughed and she wasn't sure why. "Do you think August knew I had forgiven him?" She had been pissed at first, but she was over his actions now. He hadn't gone about helping her in the best way, but he had tried. And he was just as fucked up as everyone else was, so she couldn't judge him too harshly.

Snow wasn't sure, but she lied to her daughter anyway. "I'm sure he knows. Emma, you were his best friend, too. Don't think I saw what you two were like before the curse broke. He loved you." She didn't know for sure but Snow thought August was in love with her daughter. But now, Pinocchio was stuck as a little child and wouldn't be the man Emma knew for a long time. She didn't blame her daughter for being upset at all.

"I have to pick Henry up from school, but I don't think I can drive anywhere." Too upset to do much of anything, Emma knew she couldn't get behind the wheel or else she (or they) would end up in an accident. She didn't have the energy to even deal with the possibility.

"Don't even worry about it. Your father will go and we'll tell him. You need to rest." Snow comfortingly squeezed her hand in a gesture of support.

"And don't forget that we love you. That's never going to change, Emma."

She tentatively smiled at her parents. "Thanks."

That wasn't the answer either of them was hoping for, but they knew what she meant. "You're welcome. Now go!" Snow shuffled Emma off to her bedroom as David prepared to head to the school to pick his grandson up.

Emma fell asleep faster than she thought she would, but startled awake when the door slammed shut about an hour later. A tearful Henry bolted into her bedroom and stared at her. "Hey, Kid."

"My dad's dead?" When his grandfather picked him up from school early, Henry guessed something was wrong. He never expected to find out his father had been killed by his fiancée.

Emma nodded and opened her arms when Henry flew to her side. She kissed the top of his head. "I'm so sorry, Henry."

"It's not your fault." Emma wasn't the least bit surprised when her parents entered the room and joined in on the hug. They were apparently a hugging family. She didn't mind all that much even though it was sometimes stifling.

"We're going to get through this together and save Storybrooke," David promised. He wasn't about to let his family – and the town – be destroyed anymore. Enough was enough.

The fight to save Storybrooke would probably take a lot out of the Charming family and Regina. Emma fell apart several more times, but her parents and son comforted her each time, letting her know in their way that she wasn't alive. She would never be alone. But too many losses had taken a toll and she would grieve for them in the months to come.


End file.
